WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today praised and called for swift passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The legislation will assist American workers by providing their employers, who are facing significant loss of revenue, with the funds they need to pay people during this challenging time.
“No family and no business should go bankrupt because of the financial hardships caused by the coronavirus,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas J. Donohue. “The CARES Act is a big step towards averting a catastrophic failure of the American economy and ensuring paychecks continue to go out to private-sector American workers as businesses contend with significant disruption caused by little to no revenue.”
“The U.S. Chamber believes Congress should continue to work together in a bipartisan manner to hash out any remaining details and pass this legislation promptly. We applaud Congressional leadership for including vital relief items to keep American businesses and families solvent and encourage swift passage of the CARES Act.”
Donohue also commended the cooperative and collaborative work of Congress to quickly assemble legislation on a large enough scale to keep American families and businesses afloat through the crisis. Donohue added that the bill reflects the Chamber’s most vital policy recommendations, namely:
- Pausing the payment of payroll taxes, which will grant businesses relief so they have more cash to keep employees on their payrolls.
- Lending through the U.S. Small Business Administrationand grants for small businesses that will enable this sector to endure through the crisis.
- Establishing a bridge loan facilitythat will enable businesses to continue to pay employees and provide essential operations for a time on far less, or no revenue.
“These types of emergency funding programs could make the difference between keeping a business up and running over the coming weeks or being forced to reduce salaries, layoff employees, or even shutter businesses entirely.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is committed to helping American businesses respond to the coronavirus so they can support their employees, customers, and communities. Our members and the state and local chambers, who are on the front lines of this pandemic, need us now more than ever to help them through this significant disruption. We will continue working every day to help our country’s people, businesses, and economy weather this storm and emerge stronger—just as we have at other challenging times in our nation’s history. Visit uschamber.com/coronavirus for more information.
